I happened upon this mysterious lady (aka my wife, Judith) in the Palais de l'Isle in the old town section of Annecy in the French Alps. Built in 1132, this castle is situated on an island in the middle of the Thiou canal on the edge of Lake Annecy. It has had a myriad of incarnations through the years from a palace to a courthouse to a mint to a jail (from the Middle Ages until 1865 and again during WWII). Most recently it has housed the local history museum.

I was photographing on the outside of the building looking in. The warm ochre tones of the stones in the foreground serve as a perfect counterpoint to the steely darkness of the bars and that cloaked femme mysterieuse. One can only imagine what secrets the Palais de l’sle hold to this day.